Foot measuring device



Dec. 19, 1933. E. J. BLISS 1,940,240

FOOT MEASURING DEVICE Filed June 21, 1930 fwve flfor 6g. w MW Patented Dec. 19, 1933 FOGTMEASUIING DEVICE V JrBliss; BostomsMassn assignortto Regal sheer-Compan it man, Mass., a corpora;- t tionvofhMassachiisetts,

Application June-21, i930: Serial No} 462,896,

s olaims; (01. 3 -3) Thisrinvention relates to theart of fitting shoes and is :moreparticularly intended to, provide an ocular demonstration to th'epcustomer of' the proper length: ofshoe that 'is appropriate ,to. fit

his or her foot.

Onewtdheseriouaproblems ,of retail shoe sell ingpisrtcvfit-thotcustomenwithv a pair. ;of shoes that armofaansizetto. accommodate the foot and :that cmibe worniwitht, subsequent comfort and absence, ob injury, Actuallsurveys covering large numbers-otcasesexamined showrthat more thamtwoethia'dstot. the persons, examined were wearing shoes that were too short in length. Now; thesweazingofitoov shortshoesrnot only re sultsiinwsubsequentcdiscomfort; but it. is, a liflousomce. of footl troublesuch as bun'ion's, enlarged ijointstandr-distortion which seriously ate 1 feet tthmeflioieacyi and serviceof the -feet., ,1 More:

oven; veryr frequentlx the.c1istomer insists in spiteeoflthewadvice-otan expert salesman.on;hav

ing; at shorten-sizes of. shoe than the: actual I foot memurements indicate.

Itiedzheobjectflf-the present inventiontohpro video-device whichzwilLdemonstrate. in a simple 7 amhobrious-iwax: to the. customer that any given shoe oliinsumcientr-length is too short forthimsto wear. In general, the invention: comprises, an elevated: heel supporting engaging memberr and attaehableelength size gauges. ofithin fiexibleimar tmntmtwin conform-to the bottom contour of. tho-ttoot .stendingeonithe device. and that. is pro, videdrat titsrforward. endwith a toev gauging. stop or-memben for. visibly demonstrating .the expand A ed length, of: the :foot when the weight is thrown oniitziniarwalhing orastanding posture. Brovision iealsomadefor, raisingtheheight. of .the heelisupr porti toidiflerent levelsrtozcorrespondfwith the heightzozii thestyle oi-shoe that is desired, These; andiothemteaturesaof ,the invention will-be partic--- described. in; the: following; specification and will be defined'iinzthe claims heretmannexed. Ihthe'aocompanyingdrawing I have illustrated a simple and convenient embodimentof the.-in-: vention; in which r Rig. 1 is a: plan view of the device assembled ready for gauging the-length of the foot of a per son standing with his heel gauging-against the rear stop. or gauge and elevated, to the proper; height above. the.leve1 ofthe floor. V

Fig, 2" is a. sectional; elevation of' the device showing the outline of aifootbeingvgauged there-V.

by; v y Hana-iota elevation of a shoein which the font ofithe customer, isinsertedion topof sthe thin standing on the measuring device as it will assume.

son is thrown forward onto theball=of th yieeti flexible toe gauge which has been previouslytin-c serted in the bottom of'the shoe. In the practice of the invention accordingtor" the. form' illustrated-- inthe drawing; I provide a:

block or strip 1 from whose rear edge projectsupr-i. 69

wardly a stop'member-or heel gauge S and-halve.

ing a forward and downwardly curved wshelf tor extension T'conforming somewhat:to the arch ot- 'equalhdistances irom themiddle of 1 the devices.70

When any} selected pair of-blocks of the same height are swung into horizontal position beneath the heel seat,*or supportingmember 1,- it=g=ives1ah definite elevation to the heel corresponding to the height of heel of the shoes that the'customeris ti-yingon, As many'different thicknessesotr block maybe-usedas may be thoughtdesirableto cover the entire range of heights of heelsic arei, riedin stoclgso that the footbeing measured will assume the same posture when the customert is in a shoe of "equal height ofheeli This testingvon gauging of the foot, 7 when-in the posture .i that it will assumein the shoe when the wearer isistand in'g, isvery important because the greatersther height'of heel the more theweight of thel'per-z and thegreateri's'the elongation or lengthwise expansion of the foot-when supporting r the weight in such a posture. V

- The heelseat member 1 is provided with'a pair of, aligned flat headedpins 10 and 11-, which serve as means for attaching aseries of graduated toe gauges 12 which are madeofthin flexible materialjto permit them to conform to the contour of the-sole of the foot andwhichalso per-' mit themrto be inserted inthe. shoe selected for trial before itis tried on. Anyconvenientmeans. may be employed for properly positioning the length or toe gauges 12, when attached. to the 100 heel member 1. As shown in the drawing the rear end of the flexiblegauge 12 is slottedto pass under the flat head of the tack 10; while attire appropriate distance forward the gauging Stripis provided with a longitudinal slot 12 with, a 105 medial enlargement that can be sprung over the head of thepin or'tack 11, so that the length gauge is detachably secured to the elevated heel support always in the same relation-to the back stop or heel gauge 6. I n.

The forward end of the length gauge 12 is turned back and upward to form a stop 12 at just the right distance from the heel gauge 6 to correspond to a definite standard length-size of a foot.

The side by side gauges 12 are preferably ar ranged with the shortest gauge at one end of the series and the longest gauge at the other end, each intermediate size and half size in length increments being represented by its own appropri ate length gauge.

The customer making a trial stands with his heel against the back stop 6 and his toe reaching almost to, but not quite in contact with, the stop member 12 of the appropriate length gauge. He can then see for himself just what the over-all length of his foot is when in the standing posture supporting his weight. It is then possible to disengage the particular length gauge member, that corresponds to the length of his foot, insert the same inthe shoe to be tried on and then have the customer insert his foot over the gauge and stand'erectwith his weight supported by the foot in a posture similar to that assumed bythe foot on the measuring or gauging device. Should the customer then insist on a shorter shoe, the length gauge corresponding to the length of that shorter shoe would be inserted in the'shoe preparatory to trying on the shoe, and he will find that his toe strikes against the shorter toe gauge indicating clearly enough that the shoe selected by him is too short for him to wear. However, since the various gauges 12 are all dimensioned in length to fit in the corresponding sizes of shoes, it will usually suffice to get the accurate foot measure by hav-" ing the customer stand on the gauging device until he finds the appropriate length gauge and then testing by inserting that identical length gauge in a shoe having the length indicated by the gauge.

Each individual gauge, in connection with the back stop or heel gauge, forms in effect a onedimension size stick giving accurately the foot measurement, but it has this; important advantage over the size stick in that, owing to its flexibility, it can be attached-to the elevated heel support and will conform to the actual contour of the sole of the foot when in that position.

Furthermore, the size stick is :not adapted to gauge the foot when the customer is standing on the size stick, so that it takes no account of the I extension of expansion in length of the foot when it is supporting the weight of the person, while the individual flexible gauges in conjunction with the fixed heelgauge 6 do precisely register according to this condition.

It will be seen, therefore, that when intelligently used this device accomplishes two purposes. It gives an ocular demonstration to the customer of the over-all length measurement of his foot in its extended or expanded condition when occupying the same posture that it will occupy in the shoes that he is about to purchase. In the second place, the detached length gauge or exact replica of it may be inserted in the shoe to test whether there is sufficient space beyond the tip of the toe of the foot and the tip endof the shoe. Therefore, both by ocular demonstration and by actual trial in the shoe, the customer must be convinced, even against his will, what size of shoe is proper for him to wear, whereas measurements by the usual size stick sel- 1 dom convince a customer, who wantsa short shoe, of his error.

What I claim is:

1. A foot measuring device embracing in its construction, an elevated heel supporting and heel gauging stop means, a flexible length gaug ing member of predetermined and known length attached at its rear end to said heel supporting means and adapted by its flexibility to follow the contour of the sole of the foot when the heel is elevated in gauging position, said length gauging member being provided at its front end with a stop for engaging the toe of the foot.

2., A foot measuring device embracing a raised heel supporting and heel gauging stop means, means for varying the elevation of the heel support, and a flexible length gauging member of fixed predetermined length-size secured to the heel portion of said support and provided at its forward end with a toe-gauging stop.

3. A foot measuring device embracing in its construction, a raisedheelsupport having a heelgauging stop and provided with a pair of aligned anchoring pins, a length measuring gauge-formed to interlockingly engage with said pins and provided at its forward end with an upstanding toegauging stop. I

4. A length-size foot measuring gauge embracing in its construction, a thin strip of flexible material provided at its rear end with a pin-receiving notch and at a distance in advance of its rear with a longitudinal slot having an enlargement for engaging a second pin and'being provided at gauge adapted tojbe attached thereto to project forwardly a fixed predetermined distance from the heel-gauging member, said length-size gauge comprising a thin fiat elongated flexible strip attachable at its rear end to said heel support, and a raised toe-gauging member fixed to the vforward end of said strip at a fixed length-size distance from the rear end thereof, said length- 7 size gauge being capable, when inserted in a shoe, of testing the length of a superimposed foot inserted in said shoe.

6. A foot-measuring and testing device embracing in its construction, a raised heel-support ing and heel gauging stop member, means for elevating said member to different heights to correspond with the heel seat elevation of different stylesof shoes and a length-size gauge adapted to be attached thereto to project forwardly a fixed predetermined distance from the heel-gauging member, said length-size gauge comprising a thin fiat elongatedfiexible strip attachable at its rear end to said heel support, and a raised to'egauging member fixed to the forward end of said strip at a fixed length-size distance from the rear end thereof, said length-size gauge'being capable when inserted in a shoe of gauging a superimposed foot inserted in said shoe. '7. A foot-measuring device embracing in its construction, a raised heel-supporting and heel gauging stop member provided with blocks of different predetermined thickness arranged to be moved beneath said heel-support to increase the height thereof a predetermined distance, a length-size gauging member comprising a thin fiat elongated flexible strip of predetermined length attached to said heel-supporting member in fixed relation thereto and extending forwardly a fixed distance from the heel-gauging member and adapted through its flexibility to follow the contour of the bottom of a. superimposed foot,

said length-size gauging member having fixed to its forward end a raised toe-engaging member.

8. A foot measuring device for measuring the length-size of a. foot in weight-supporting posture with the heel supported at a predetermined height above the level of the ball portion, embracing a heel-supporting member having a stop for engaging the back of the heel, a thin fiat strip of flexible material of known foot-size length provided at its forward end with a toe stop for engaging the tip of the toe, said strip being secured at its rear portion in predetermined relation to 

